New winter shelter programs stall

NORTH COUNTY —— Plans to create two emergency winter shelters
have stalled, mired in debates over how much, if any, money that
cities have to contribute, and who should take responsibility for
what city officials and nonprofit agencies alike say is a regional
problem.

Rafael Bernal, who heads a task force of roughly a half-dozen
local nonprofit agencies, said his group's plan had been to create
two shelters, one on the coast and one inland that could each take
in 100 people a night.

Staffing and other services for the program have already been
organized, Bernal said. But without an available facility and the
estimated $200,000 it will take to operate the program, the
shelters are all but left out in the cold, he said.

"Without (funds) and without property and without permits to
allow a winter shelter, we're stuck," said Bernal, who serves as
executive director of the North County Community Services Food
Bank.

However, city officials from across the region said that, based
on existing commitments to help fund homeless and other social
service programs, there appeared to be little political will to add
more shelter beds.

John Lundblad, an administrative analyst in Oceanside's housing
division, said that his city allots $10,000 to a countywide program
that provides homeless families with motel vouchers. And, as it has
the last four years, the Oceanside City Council was expected to
declare a shelter crisis at its Wednesday night meeting. The
declaration allows churches to operate shelters serving as many as
50 people without having to apply for city permits.

Moreover, he said, Oceanside plans to make its annual $15,000
contribution to help fund the Bread of Life Rescue Mission, a
50-bed shelter that operates four nights a week out of an
industrial park on Apple Street.

Committing more dollars to winter shelter programs, he said,
would require more than a nudge from city bureaucrats.

"What we don't have," Lundblad said, "is any pressure from the
community to really do something."

About one-third of the county's estimated 9,600 homeless
individuals live in North County, according to data from the San
Diego Regional Task Force on the Homeless, a nonprofit advocacy
group. There are roughly 124 winter shelter beds planned for the
North County region so far.

That number is 50 beds fewer than last year, in the wake of
Interfaith Community Services' decision to end its emergency
shelter program after nearly two decades.

The Escondido-based nonprofit plans to use the warehouse that
served as its winter shelter last season for its new program,
Merle's Place, that will serve homeless seniors, veterans and the
disabled throughout the year. That shelter is expected to open this
fall.

Bernal said that he recognizes cities do support programs that
support the homeless, especially seniors and families in need of
temporary shelter. But he said that North County is in dire need of
more programs to provide food and beds for the chronically
homeless.

Still, some cities say they have simply done their part
already.

For the fourth year, Vista plans to spend $25,000 on Operation
Hope, a 50-bed facility that offers local families shelter and a
variety of social services during the winter months.